A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
They say you are a master.
Your hand.
Your neck.
You are lonely.
Very, very lonely.
But very passionate.
One, two...
three...
four.
How unfair.
Without the scent of your skin, this perfume is nothing.
Just like you without the suitable perfume.
PERFUME
SKATOLE
It's not the foreign that draws us in,
it's the familiar that mesmerizes us.
Added to perfume in small quantities, skatole seems
like a familiar person waving at us, like a hint of coming home.
Only the scent of a higher concentration reveals
that, in fact, we smell our closest confidante from birth.
Skatole is the fragrance substrate of human feces.
We love the familiar, good or bad,
at least until the moment of true understanding.
Is this the missing person's report?
The missing persons' reports.
Interestingly, Merten Brodmann is not the only one
who disappeared from the boarding school.
This is Daniel Sluiter, 15 years old in 1997,
one of the invited guests at Katharina Läufer's funeral.
Brettschneider has relayed that.
In 1997, Daniel Sluiter disappeared from the boarding school for five days.
Couldn't remember a thing after.
According to the medical report, he had grazed hands and knees
and a bump on the head.
They never found out where he had been.
And then Merten Brodmann disappeared.
What did you do to her?
Stop it!
Roman!
Roman?
You do realize he can report you, Butsche?
Magda. Magda, what are you doing here?
Magda, come here.
All okay? Just joking. Nice to see you again. Come on.
Isn't that right, guys? You were just fooling around.
Did you knock my dad around with that?
With this watch, you defeat anybody.
It has been 20 years since Merten Brodmann disappeared,
and I remember every minute and every wrong decision we made.
I always hoped the case would be reopened.
None of us have forgiven ourselves for not taking it seriously enough.
A child disappeared and you didn't take it seriously?
We knew Merten Brodmann.
Always ran away and wanted to go to Singapore where his mother was.
We always found him. At the train station, the airport...
Any idea what he was running away from?
- No idea what he was running from. - From being alone without his parents.
Anyway, when he disappeared again two months later,
we did everything the same.
After five days, we even checked the flight lists to Singapore.
- We searched for him with dogs. - Did you use cadaver dogs, as well?
After ten days, even us village police idiots realized
that a child that couldn't be found...
We searched the school property first.
The dogs were signaling like mad...
and then we discovered the saponified bodies.
Yes, you are holy, great God. You are the well of holiness.
Therefore, we ask you
to send your spirit down to these gifts and bless them,
so they can be for us body...
Roman.
Butsche said she's meeting him, as well.
Sure.
Will you take me along?
Sure.
Just to watch.
Are you a pervert?
...and offered it to his disciples and said,
- "Take..." - She's here.
"...all of it. This is my body given for you..."
Come on.
Holy Mary Magdalene, pray for me.
I always thought you're the most beautiful of saints.
You're also the only one who knows the meaning of true love.
Katharina is so soft.
I know that because...
I touched her. On her neck.
If you make her love me, I'll enter the monastery.
I'll come see you every day,
for the rest of my life.
I had an emergency at the hospital.
When I got home, she was probably dead already.
Elena was with Magda. Moritz, where were you?
- What? - Where were you?
Have you all completely lost your minds now?
Thursday? At home.
I even had a visitor. Emily.
A redhead, actually. I can give you her number.
Butsche.
- Is this an interrogation? - Look at her!
What do you want from me? I worked all night.
- And you, Toothless? - I was at home.
- Alone? - Yes, damn it.
Satisfied now, Roman?
Hey.
Have you still not gotten any?
Very funny, Butsche.
Toothless is still a virgin.
And why is your name Toothless?
God, that's disgusting.
What's wrong with you?
What a joy to see you all again.
His prick must be artificial, too.
Come on, Toothless. It's just like in the old days.
Did she see it?
Hey!
What are you doing?
Thomas Butsche, I missed you.
I'm here now.
Hey, wait!
What an asshole.
The bodies stay intact there, just like you've seen them in the photos,
because of the ground. Clayey, very wet.
The bodies get covered by a layer of fat when you bury them.
They rot, but they don't decompose.
As long as the bodies have not decomposed, the graves can't be cleared.
We opened every single one anyway, just in case Merten was lying in one.
Is there anybody in the boarding school who was there when Merten disappeared?
The old beadle. I saw him in the field over there.
Those devices make a noise when a message comes in, right?
I could easily miss hearing it. I don't want to risk that.
You're putting your heart and soul into it.
Of course. What about you?
Private life?
Hobbies, wife, kids?
I have a daughter.
But she lives in Bavaria.
For a long time.
Merten Brodmann had no friends.
Do you remember anything about Merten?
That he disappeared. That's why he's remembered.
Apart from that, he was just another boy.
Do the names Roman Seliger, Moritz de Vries, Thomas Butsche,
- Daniel Sluiter ring a bell? - Yes.
- You remember them, as well? - Oh, yes.
I can, for example, perfectly remember that my daughter married one of them.
Who did your daughter marry?
Seliger. The daughter now thinks she's a cut above us.
Did you know Katharina Läufer?
Well, who didn't?
Came here all the time.
Made eyes at everyone.
It should have been beaten out of her.
She was beautiful and she knew it.
You need to keep away from those.
Now, the students want girls to be accepted at the school as well.
It'll be nothing but trouble.
Why?
Us men are just bugs to them.
FOR GIRLS
Could you give us names? Someone who might have known them better?
There's one who stuck around. Wholesale drinks business.
Comes to the reunion once a year and keeps asking for the Seligers.
As if I knew anything.
Tobacco, curd soap, licorice.
Boom.
You're still stealing communion wine.
As I said before, it is not Jesus' blood yet.
That happens at mass.
Transubstantiation.
Tobacco, curd soap, licorice
and a hint of sweet semolina pudding.
My father.
A point for Elena.
Okay.
Good. So...
he always smelled softly of butter and earwax, and above all that,
there was always musk perfume.
- Hagfish! - Yes!
- Hagfish. - He said it!
Nearly forgot about him. What was his real name again?
Hendrik Ahlers.
Hendrik Ahlers?
Just great.
Excuse me a minute. Sorry.
Good evening. Please, excuse the interruption.
Criminal Investigations. Your secretary said we'd find you here.
Criminal Investigations?
Ah, about that K.
We can arrange an appointment with my lawyer for next week.
- We're investigating a murder. - And I'm playing tennis.
Obstructing the investigation can have consequences.
Lawyer. Appointment. Thank you. Goodbye.
We're also looking into the disappearance of Merten Brodmann.
We were told if anybody could tell us about Roman Seliger and his friends,
it would be you, Mr. Ahlers.
I wrote an article about the market value of everybody at a boarding school.
- Market value? - Yeah.
It determines if others want to deal with you.
It is the sum of the quotients of several factors.
Grades, family background,
self-confidence, charisma, aura.
Looks, as well.
With a low market value, you should be grateful if anyone talks to you at all.
The market value rises if supply is lower than demand.
You may have heard about that.
Now, Roman, Moritz and Butsche didn't make any offers to anybody.
They kept to themselves.
Why they took on this nothing without teeth
with a market value of 0.0, believe me, nobody got that.
You would have been a better fit, right?
And Merten Brodmann, what was he like?
He... They were not interested in him at all.
They were more interested in this K.
Went to every gig of hers, or they hung out at that ruin.
They founded some sort of a secret club there.
What was it about?
- Smelling. - Smelling?
Yeah, childish.
I remember a party we held
with the girls' boarding school near Düsseldorf.
The girls were bussed here. That was some excitement.
Roman, Moritz and Butsche went on the stage,
the girls took off their bras. It was a bet.
If they could identify the relevant girl through the smell of the bra.
- Did they manage? - Each attempt was a success.
- What's the name of the ruin? - Horo, the moated castle.
Those were the days.
All of us had big plans.
Well, then...
We'll check that moated castle, Horo.
Whatever for?
They searched for the boy along the route to the airport,
but not at the ruin.
If you say so.
Roman, come on!
I wonder what K and the senior are up to right now.
Give it to me.
Damn girls!
Hey.
Look who's here.
So, how are things with you and Elena?
- She still fuck all right? - Shut up.
That's a no.
I invited you because K is dead. Can you get that into your head?
My girls do everything I say.
They'll fuck anybody, just for me.
Probably because you're always fishing for sympathy.
Used to work with K quite well.
Poor little victim.
One word about that to anybody and I'll kill you.
The way she used to throw back her hair...
Who? K?
You'd always want to see that once more.
And then again.
Then rewind...
and yet again.
- Little Elena. - Butsche.
And then, her long naked legs...
They were nearly arrogant, weren't they, Roman?
You just wanted to take a bite.
Yeah, you would.
Toothless.
For jerking off.
You can actually laugh with your new teeth. Show me.
Show me. Laugh again.
I'm tired. I'm off to bed.
You coming?
Little Elena is supposed to go to bed with Daddy.
- Good night. - Good night.
You can sleep on the sofas. Make yourselves comfortable, okay?
Shall we peek through Roman and Elena's bedroom window like we used to?
That's boring.
Good night.
It's a bit like it used to be, right?
All this needs to be searched.
Comb all that without concrete evidence?
I'm sure Grünberg will love it.
Yeah. It really is a stupid idea.
The woods need to be searched, too.
Might as well search the whole Lower Rhine.
Bullshit.
Well?
Hello.
Sorry.
Yes?
Is that not a bit far-fetched, Ms. Simon?
I can't see any grounds for...
You're not interrupting me.
And no, you're not digging up 2,000 hectares of land. No.
Boy.
Why does Ms. Simon have this number?
Swapping notes during an investigation is not new.
It's your private phone.
So I must have given her the number.
- What are you reading? - Anna Karenina.
The bestsellers that fill the shelves for a couple of weeks, you like them, too.
But it's the classics that you always come back to. Always.
That's true love.
You will go to hell, Grünberg.
He's not answering anymore.
We're working our butts off and he plays family.
Are you still coming? I guess not. Asshole.
Give me that.
Sorry.
What?
Clay.
I forgot about that.
Saponified bodies, like the old policeman said.
You know what that means?
It means we won't need a digger.
We only need dogs.
What's buried here won't decompose.
A couple of cadaver dogs and we should be done in two days.
Hey.
What are you reading?
The Vampire Killer.
I prefer murder stories.
You're not worried something could happen to you?
Read a bit for us.
"He could not exist without the others' blood.
He loved getting his teeth into the victim's warm skin,
and especially, he loved the wincing,
that last bit of struggling..." Hey! Stop that.
- Do you know what this is called? - Sure.
Tongue.
- Show us your tongue. - You're nuts.
Do you know what you do with tongues?
I need to go home.
You're so childish.
Do you enjoy humiliating me?
Roman, please don't.
I asked if you enjoy humiliating me.
The others are out there.
So?
Why do you always force me to do this?
Sometimes, I think you're the devil.
Hello?
Elena?
I know you're there.
Why are you hiding from me?
- Elena, please, talk to me. - I'm sick.
I had far too much to drink, as well. It was the fear of seeing you.
Did you ever see the mother again?
- Leave me alone. - I dream about it every night.
I'll lose my mind.
Whether my eyes are opened or closed, I still see how...
Shut up.
- I see the cellar and... - Shut up!
Has it been like that all these years?
He doesn't mean it.
He... He doesn't mean it?
You could have it better with a man who truly loves you.
You have no idea. He loves me.
That's just it.
Do you know what you're doing to your daughter?
With my mother, when she had a new guy,
a drug dealer, a pimp...
At some stage, they all got violent with her,
and trust me, that was the worst.
Yeah, because you had to watch, Toothless.
Magda is never around when it happens.
Roman is very responsible.
Responsible? God!
Elena, can't you see he's treating you like...
It was because of K.
Now she's dead. Everything will get better.
I can tell.
Back then, when you met him...
the story you told me about you at the ruin...
all three of them would have been locked up if you had gone to the police.
Do you still like us?
You still like us, right?
You know...
it was because we like you. You understand?
Why are you crying?
I'll be late getting home, because of you.
God, Roman, you know her father.
Want me to take you home?
I'll think of something.
I'll help you.
No.
No, Toothless, you won't.
I don't want you to ever help me again.
Never again.
- But I... But I would... - Get lost.
- Go away! - Elena!
Get lost! Go, Toothless!
Get lost!
They're searching the area now.
Let's hope Grünberg won't get wind of it.
De Vries has a perfumery in France, and...
Seliger is just an asshole.
A perfumery?
All men.
We were chatting with some of them,
just asking how they knew Katharina Läufer.
Most only saw her at one of her gigs.
Was supposedly just totally sexy.
I talked to her agent, as well.
Said at small events, she came across really well.
It went less well at big events. They tried twice, but it was a big flop.
Fuck! Tastes like cadaver piss!
The milk must have gone bad.
How can you drink that piss?
I'm less of a wuss than you are.
You're not normal. Women!
We met three guys at the funeral paying maintenance for Katharina's son.
There are probably more.
At least we know where all the money came from.
Brettschneider?
Do we have this one enlarged, as well? The old guy.
I know him.
Right.
Are you my boyfriend now?
- Hello. - Hello.
Mr. Sluiter?
Give me that suitcase.
I'm leaving you.
Thanks for explaining.
I didn't get that with this stupid brain of mine.
- What you do is called rape. - What you are is called frigid.
I can report it.
Incapable of love.
You know what it feels like when you let Butsche touch you
while you push your own husband away?
I'm sorry.
I'm taking Magda.
You're not serious.
If you hit me, I'll go to the police.
There's something I know about you that we will talk about now.
If you still want to leave after that...
Ms. Simon?
- I guess that's that. - Keep going.
Joachim.
Can you please tell me what this is about?
Village police was here with cadaver dogs, and I have clues that Merten...
Village police just got a notion to walk the dogs here?
Ms. Simon?
Come over and have a look at this.
- Careful. - Thank you, guys.
The reason for the cadaver dog signaling.
There's a dog buried here.
Mr. Prosecutor, take a look.
We're not interested in dead dogs.
I guarantee you'll be interested in this.
Search the whole area. Use all the cadaver dogs you can get.
Every single inch.
BASED ON THE THEME OF THE NOVEL
"PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER" BY PATRICK SÜSKIND
Subtitle translation by Britta Boyle